บท 223: {A New Path}: When Fairies Meet
On Tenrou Island, continues explosions were heard with the occasional cry of agony followed by maniacal laughter.
This had been a constant occurrence for the last few days. Ever since the two immortals met, Zeref hadn't gotten much rest at all, every day turned into a new cruel way of torture. And for Zeref the worst part, as he discovered was that he was no match against Amell. In his current state, he had no control over his magic power, and it was doubtful if he would still be a match if he got control back.
A final giant boom sounded out and Zeref was sent flying across the ground when a couple of metal balls struck his chest. His body crashed through multiple trees before he collided with a tree that finally managed to stop him.
"You look miserable, Zeref." Amell came floating down from the sky, on his face, he had a childish smile. His feet touched the ground as Zeref struggled his way up from the ground, and when he got up, instead of berating Amell with harsh words like he usually would, he looked in another direction with interest.
He looked back at Amell and said. "I can't be sure, but I think we have an audience." He looked at Amell for some form of confirmation since he wasn't a reliable source as long as his magic power was uncontrollable.
"For a while now," Amell said with certainty. "If you had control, you would have sensed her the instant she awoke, but since you don't have control right now, I chose to wait until she came close enough for you to pick up the subtle presence." Amell waved his hand and on the hill in the distant, a small long-haired blond girl became visible.
"Welcome Mavis, good to see you again." Amell could control the most fundamental forces of the universe, and bending realities was very possible for him. Regularly only people with the Fairy Tail tattoo would be able to see and hear her, but making her visible for other people was a piece of cake for him now.
"Amell, Zeref. Never did I imagine myself seeing something like this." Both the immortals could see that she was holding in a laugh. Amell smiled at seeing an old friend while Zeref tried avoiding eye contact.
"The black wizard being chased and beaten by small harmless balls." Mavis couldn't hold in the laughter any longer, and she immediately fell to the ground laughing hysterically. This was much to Zeref's displeasure.
"Mavis, can you not laugh so hard at my misfortune. You don't have to deal with him, he's not human." Zeref sneaked a glance at Amell hoping that now he might have the opportunity for some rest.
"Says the guy that supposedly can't die and created demons." Amell flicked his finger and Zeref was thrown against a tree by a blast of air. "That was for your disrespectful tone when talking about me."
"Stop fighting, you two!" Mavis managed to swallow her laughter, "Amell, what are you doing here on this island? Have you finally left Paradise Island? I'm still annoyed that you didn't show it to me." With pouted lips, she turned her judgement gaze on him.
"For the time being, I left, mostly so I could see the world again, and see the changes to the guild after a century away from it." Amell suddenly turned his gaze to the West. "Hm, something just happened around Magnolia." He said. Amell was divine, almost a complete God thanks to his never-ending power. With the power he holds, he can easily cover this entire planet in his magic. Thanks to this, he would immediately sense if any major spike in power happened no matter where in the world it was.
"You can sense what happens over there from here?" Zeref asked.
"Naturally I can. Zeref, I told you that I am far above any mage of this world."
"Is it our guild?" Mavis asked.
"Hm, they aren't the cause of it. It feels otherwordly, but I won't know until I get there to check it out for myself." Amell waved his hand and his duffel bag appeared in his hand. "I'm going and checking it out."
"Finally," Zeref sighed out and fell to the ground in exhaustion. "Now I can finally get some peace and quiet."
Amell chuckled and lightly shook his head. "Don't celebrate yet, someday, I'm coming back and we're gonna finish this game of catch."
"I know I'm just a ghost, but it gets lonely here, are you sure you can't stay just a little longer, it would help alleviate my sadness and boredom," Mavis said with a pout.
"That's all a lie. You just wanna see Zeref suffer." To this, Mavis immediately started sweating like she was under interrogation.
"How dare you, Mavis. My curse is suffering enough as it is. I don't need or deserve to be tortured by this devil."
"I'm sure I can find a few people that would argue the opposite. Most of the world thinks you are pure evil and deserve more than this. Be lucky I am not one of them." Amell smiled and his body started floating.
"WAIT! What are you gonna do about my island? You've destroyed most of it!" Mavis yelled.
"Oh, right." Amell waved his hand and time started to rewind and soon the island was back to the condition before he arrived. "That should do it." He said with a smile.
Mavis stood in awe at the display of how easily he manipulated time. "I did NOT know you knew time magic, or that you could do anything close to this."
"That was intentional. The council and everyone else would have never left me alone if I revealed all the magic I can use. In their eyes, I will forever be just a wind magic-user. Right!" His gaze hardened as it locked onto the two.
"Yessir!" Mavis saluted comedically. Zeref just nodded as he sat leaning against a tree.
"Good. Now, without further ado, I shall take my leave, I must see to it that the guild is safe." Amell took off with a sonic boom, and before they could blink his body could not even be seen anymore.
"I wonder how much he held back against me," Zeref said lazily.
"I spent years drinking and fighting with him, yet I could never get him to use more than one hand when sparring. So, to answer your question, probably how an adult would hold back against a baby," She looked at him before she started fading away as Amell had undone what made her visible.
"Probably," Zeref said and closed his eyes.
*********************************************
Flying from Tenrou Island to Ishgar took Amell no more than a few minutes, and arriving in Magnolia didn't take much longer.
Amell was now hovering over Magnolia, or where it was supposed to be. "What in the world happened here?" He descended to the ground with unease in his heart. The whole area was a desolate wasteland. Where Magnolia and Fairy Tail was supposed to be located was now nothing more than a bleak wasteland covered by something resembling white sand.
"There's still traces left of the city, the magical signature of the mages of the guild is still lingering here. This means that they are not dead, just gone. The question is, besides me, who else has the power to relocate an entire city like this?" Amell bowed down and touched the ground as his cloak swayed in the wind. "For now, I should try and get a reading on their live magical signatures." With his hand on the ground, he connected his presence to the most powerful magical signatures that were left in the area.
"Gildarts?!" Amell looked up in haste. "He was here when it happened. I can sense that he is not dead, it's just that I can't locate him." Amell suddenly reacted to a subtle shift in the air, and as he stood up Sebas appeared in front of him.
"My Lord, I sensed what happened and I came to investigate. It appears that you beat me to it." He spoke with his normal stoic tone.
"Were you monitoring Fairy Tail?" Amell asked.
"Yes. You left us the task of looking after young master Gildarts and in the process of doing so we found out that young master Gildarts in fond of this guild so we have kept an eye on it."
"I see. Well, the good news is that my son isn't dead. For some reason I still don't know, he and the entire city has been relocated to somewhere." Amell said as he gazed out over the desolate wasteland that used to be one of the most prominent cities on Ishgar.
"Have you any idea of how this happened and where Young Master Gildarts is now?" Sebas asked. He was completely fine with this city being gone and its people dead, as long as Gildarts was alive and well.
"I scanned the planet and Magnolia is nowhere on it. The only answer I have is that they have been teleported to another dimension or possibly an alternate universe. There are essentially endless possibilities."
"Can you get him back, My Lord?"
"Yes I can, but it is going to require a lot of magic power. I would essentially transport a million or so people across worlds including an entire city. But first I have to find the signature of the one that took Magnolia." Amell sighed out.
"Do you require assistance, My Lord?"
"No! You can go back home, Sebas. Good work with the quick response, but I have this covered." Amell said with a smile.
"Very well, My Lord. I shall then take my leave." Sebas bowed and disappeared from the spot like a ghost would fade into thin air.
"What to do, what to do," Amell sighed out. "If I bring them back without knowing the situation on their side, I could lose some of them, or trap them in some limbo state. I can't risk harming Gildarts." He sat down on the ground and crossed his arms above his chest. "First I need to figure out where they went, and after that, I can work on bringing them back."
******************************************
The sun disappeared beyond the horizon signalling the end of the day and Amell was on the road away from Magnolia. In the end, he decided that it was too risky to try and get Magnolia back. He could sense through the leftover magical signature that the people were alive, most of was trapped in some limbo state which was why it was so dangerous to try and bring them back. He had decided to go to the council to announce that he was back, and get some relevant information on the guild and the current council system.
The road from Magnolia to the council HQ was long, but Amell enjoyed the simple way of travelling, and in some weird way he felt closer to Gildarts through walking and sightseeing Ishgar. He knew it was Gildarts dream to explore the planet fully, so maybe after they hopefully come back they could explore together.
With the walking speed that he had, he still arrived at the council quicker than most others would. And what he saw when he arrived was a lot different than to what he remembered. A majestic and grand palace-like building stood erect in front of him with a massive and beautiful garden surrounding it on all sides.
"Not so humble I see. No defensive magic around the perimeter, just beautiful scenery." Amell said out loud. In his eyes, this place could be described with a single word, overconfident.
He looked to the nearest guard who stared at him in anger thanks to Amell's previous descriptive speech about this place. "Excuse me, tell me where the council is hosting their meetings. It's urgent that I see them."
Not to his surprise, the guard looked up at his face as he still was two and a half meters tall, with a scorn on his face. "You might wanna identify yourself first!"
Amell sighed out, too tired to deal with this young man. His silvery eyes glowed bright and he asked yet again. "Where is the council?"
"They are holding a meeting in the West wing." The guard said without delay.
Amell nodded and continued on his way.
On the way to the West wing inside the palace-like building, multiple people tried to stop him and question him but he didn't give anyone the time to do so. The closer he got to the room of the meeting, the less resistance he found. When he finally stood outside the doors of the meeting room, he gave a quick and subtle nod to the door before blasting it open with a bang.
"WHO DARES!!" From inside the room, from the circle of mages standing on an elevated platform came the booming voice of the chairman. His name was Crawford and he had a large frown on his face as he tried to spot who was intruding.
"It's been a long time. You lot are new, I don't recognize any of you." Amell started floating until he was eye-level with the council members. At the exact same time, they got a glimpse of his face and being high ranking members they all knew that face. A face that is long forgotten by the world, nowadays only the name remained.
"Amell..." Crawford said silently. No one said a word as Amell floated down in the middle of the circle of members. His emperor demeanour and aura made it so that they were the ones that felt unwelcome instead of him. Amell instantly owned any room he entered, and this showcased that perfectly.
"I don't need introductions, that is not why I came here. I just returned to Ishgar a few days ago and I thought I should at least make my presence known to your council."
Crawford felt like a mountain was crushing down on him when he met the gaze of the living legend. Amell was hovering there like he owned the room, and even though he was surrounded by powerful mages, he was the one that put the pressure on them.
"Where have you been? You disappeared over a hundred years ago." Belno, the only female member asked. She was very conscious about how she spoke to him because of the incredible magic power leaking from Amell's body. It was comparable to a God of Ishgar, and little did she know that this was barely a single per cent of his power.
"Taken care of personal business, which I am not inclined to discuss with you." Amell was still looking into Crawford's eyes, but without anyone noticing, his silver eyes lit up brightly for just a second. After that, his aura turned a little darker.
"Do you have business with me, Amell?" Crawford felt endlessly uncomfortable being under the gaze of Amell. 'Feels like I'm standing in front of those damn demons again.' Crawford whispered in his mind as sweat ran down his back.
"I didn't when I came here, but I do now." Amell summoned a tennis ball to his hand. "You see, after centuries alive you will see countless different people with various personalities, and you'll get better at reading people on sight. And you," He pointed at Crawford and said. "You are too easy to read." Now Crawford started to sweat for real. "Everyone of you has a dark past, but you carry a very naughty secret, don't you?" Amell smirked and waited for the chairman's response.
Crawford pulled on his collar and snorted to give himself time to recover his demeanour. "Ridiculous! Who are you to come in here and start interrogating us? We represent magical law, you do NOT have the authority to come here and question us!" His tone was strict and anger was lingering in his eyes.
Amell made the ball hover over his palm, and the magic power emanating from the ball itself was comparable to a full-power magic cannon. This had the council members sweating even harder. "I don't? Well, then I won't question your authority here. But I will, however, tell you this." Amell smiled widely. "I am a master telepath and the moment I laid eyes on each of you, I infiltrated your minds. Every secret that can ruin not only you but this entire council is now in here as well." Amell gestured to his head. "Now for the finisher. Crawford, does the name Kyoka mean anything to you?"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Crawford yelled out, but he immediately realised where he was and tried to recover. But, it was all too late as now every member who saw his reaction started building their magic power. They could feel the darkness in Amell's aura and prepared for a fight. These were veteran mages after all.
"I wonder how your fellow council members would react if they learned of your naughty side activity. Shall we find out?" Amell said and smiled as Crawfords current persona started to crumble apart in front of their eyes.
"Crawford, what is he talking about? What secret?!" Org, the 2nd Seat of the council asked as his magic power continued to climb. His tone contained heavy killing intent as he took the council's integrity very seriously.
"I don't know, Org! You have to believe me, this man is trying to accuse me of something that I didn't do!" Crawford tried clinging to the friendship he had built over the years. He knew if Org was with him, he could get out of this still. And, of course, it all depended on how much information Amell had gotten from him if he was even telling the truth.
"We can solve that later! We all have secrets, true, but Amell, if you are speaking the truth, I will have you arrested on the spot. Infiltrating the mind of a council member is highly illegal and punishable by death!" Org, even if he wasn't' the chairman held almost the same amount of authority and respect. His word could sway almost every decision.
"I did. What do you want me to reveal to the world first? Face, hidden weapon locations, I have it all."
"Amell..." The moment he mentioned face, Org and Crawford knew what he said was true. "Why? I thought we were on friendly terms."
"We are. But you have too much power and as I just found out, you are not handling that very well. Plus none of your locations is well protected, including this one. It looks to me that the council has fallen from grace since I left."
"I just displayed how vulnerable you are. There are countless guilds, both good and bad that has people capable of reading your minds and infiltrating this place. What I did here is a favour to you."
"Still, you stole secret information from the magic council, that can not go unpunished, Amell. Even though you are a living legend, that doesn't grant you special privileges." Leiji, another member said.
"Actually, it does. I hold more power than all the guilds on Ishgar combined. As a living legend with the power of an actual God, I am granted the privilege to do what I want. If you don't believe that, have a look." He snapped his finger and the group was incased in a diamond-shaped barrier. It became impossible to see outside it, and inside it, everything was completely white.
"Let me demonstrate why I can do as I wish." Amell stopped holding some of his power back. The small amount that was released the instant he stopped holding it back hit the members like a massive mountain. They were blown back and hit the barrier and they stuck to it completely unable to move.
"AMELL, STOP OR YOU'LL KILL US!!" Org was the only one that managed to get words out. Crawford wasn't a combat mage so he had been knocked out the moment he hit the barrier, Belno, Yajima and Yuri also fainted from the release of his magic power.
Amell stopped the release but kept the barrier up. The members all fell down on the platform with sweat running down the faces of the conscious ones. "That was only a minor fraction of the magic power I hold. So, now that it has been established what kind of person you are talking to, let's get to the topic we strayed away from." Amell turned his gaze to Crawford.
"Let me reveal who that man really is." Amell snapped his fingers and the unconscious members except Crawford woke up and they all felt their magic power come back to them. " He is an informant for Tartaros." Almost like a bomb, his words almost caused Org to faint.
"WHAT!?" As stated previously, he hated actions and people that degraded the integrity of the council.
"Yes, I am. Kyoka is the name of the demon inside Tartaros that he reports to. That dark guild already knows most thing Crawford knows. He has delivered news of Face to them, your etherion cannon. They know about it all."
"T-That's impossible, Crawford a traitor, I can't believe it," Yajima said.
"Believe it, Yajima. Now, do you see why I mentioned how vulnerable your council is? You have a dark guild informant as your chairman. The man leading you and making decisions is in league with the strongest dark guild."
"This is a lot to swallow. What kind of evidence do you have of this?" Belno asked.
"I'll show you," Amell snapped his fingers and images started playing in the middle of the platform. "This is a thought projection of his last meeting with the demon known as Kyoka." Amell watched with the others as Crawford sat opposite a female demon and discussing what sounded like mundane topics.
"I still can't believe this. Amell, tell me, what else do you know of that guild? We know nothing of them." Org asked, his face devoid of any emotions.
"Almost nothing else. Crawford only met with Kyoka. I know she is one of nine powerful demons who are all supposedly Zeref's creations. That is all Crawford knew. Their headquarters is a flying base so I can't give you a location." This was obviously a lie. It wouldn't take a second for him to locate them, but he didn't care about them. He wasn't in the mood to help, and this was just a side distraction while he waited for another reaction from the missing Magnolia.
"I see." Org placed a finger on his chin and contemplated the possible moves he could make. "Amell, are you retaining your Saint position?" He asked.
"I don't mind keeping it, and I will help out anytime Ishgar is in trouble. I don't, however, take nicely to people trying to boss me around. If you have rouge mages on the run, I am not the Saint to contact. Those boring tasks will go to the people that care about such pettiness." Amell was technically a born native of Ishgar, so he wouldn't allow it to fall, but that doesn't mean he would do small-time jobs like hunting down mages and such. He would rather sleep than do that.
"Good to hear, for I have a secret mission for you if you are feeling generous," Org said.
"You can always ask, I won't hurt you for just asking."
"With Crawford's supposed betrayal, which still needs to be confirmed, we need information on Tartaros urgently. We need to know what they're planning. Is there anything in his memories that can help us?" Org asked hopeful that Crawford would be of some use.
"No, he was never brought into the scope of the plan. The demon Kyoka made promises that he would know more when the date of their plan approached. My guess is that they would have just killed him eventually. Zeref's demons aren't fans of humans, even the evil ones. Trust me on that, my sources are reliable." Amell said as he had talked extensively about Zeref's demons with the black mage himself. He knew about the Tartaros demons, but from what he understood, the Saints should have about equal their power, so he felt no need to urgently intervene. If he thought they were a threat he would have killed them. Now, they are destined to become training dummies for his guild, that he couldn't wait to see.
"Then I can only resort to asking this of you. Please gather data on Tartaros, and any other major dark guild if you can. We are possible years behind them in planning and we need urgent info. If you could locate their base, even better, anything that will give us a fighting chance."
"I won't dedicate my life to tracking down a few pathetic demons, but anything that I see or hear in my travels that is relevant to this I will tell you about. That's about as much I can promise. As I said, I will only intervene for real if Ishgar is in trouble, your council is still your responsibility in the end. So I would recommend upgrading the security of this place for starters, and then interrogate the rat over there."
"I won't push you on this since I don't think that would end well for me. There is however another thing I need to discuss with you." Org watched as Amell started throwing his ball against the wall and catching it. The casual attitude irritated him a little bit, but what could he do against someone that had them totally outmatched.
"Shoot," Amell said.
"The world thinks you're dead, I want to now make an announcement that you are ones again an active mage in the council and that you still hold the seat of a Saint."
"Absolutely not!" Amell said without even thinking about it. "I am not an active mage. I belong to the generation that created Fairy Tail. Think of me in the same position as Warrod. I'm a wandering mage that will help out when I am truly needed. By no means are you allowed to tell the world that I am an active mage."
"Would you please reconsider it. It would greatly deter Tartaros from acting too rash and aggressive. They probably know they can't fight you and telling the world that you stand by our side would greatly benefit us." Belno said.
"A no is still a no. I will help if they threaten the entirety of Ishgar, but I don't want the world to know I am alive. I choose who will get that knowledge. Think me selfish all you want, Leiji, this is the problem of this generation. You have some very talented Saints, so use them instead. They are more powerful than you give them credit for." Amell didn't wanna tell them that he would use Tartaros and various other enemies to test Fairy Tail and Gildarts strength. Amell still carried little of that emperor, God arrogance. He saw himself as above these squabbles, which frankly he was.
"Stop reading my mind," Leiji sulked as his thoughts were made public by Amell. He was still reading their mind since it was too hard not to. And he loved messing with them, as he had heard they often made things extra difficult for Fairy Tail.
"I will stop when you learn to protect your mind, it's like infiltrating the mind of a toddler. So easy it's almost boring." Amell's obvious teasing still worked its magic as he became furious with Amell.
"Is there really no way to change your mind?" Yajima asked.
"No, it isn't. Now stop asking before you really annoy me." Amell let leak a small amount of his killing intent and the thoughts they had of further questioning stopped immediately.
"Since I have nothing more to discuss, I will take my leave. It was a pleasure doing business with you." Amell floated down towards the door. "Do not try and contact me. If I need something, I will come to you." Amell hit them with a thumbs up before vanishing right in front of their eyes.
"Trouble is brewing and I have no idea how to handle it," Org said and got sympathetic nods in return from the circle.
"Let us not delay, take Crawford to interrogation. I need some rest before the real work starts." Org said and made his way out of the room.
***********************************
Amell, the living legend was walking across the grasslands of Ishgar and the winds around him were intense. So intense in fact that magical beasts ran when they sensed its approach.
Amell had Gildarts horrible habit of losing track of everything when he walked, so he forgot to keep the winds in check. It was unclear if this horrible habit originated from him or Sylvia, but all three had it, but only Amell and Gildarts were dangerous when they did it. Sylvia mostly walked into walls and got teased for it. Amell would decimate forests when his mind wandered, same for Gildarts. Though, he had Atlas to remind him, so he rarely destroyed things anymore.
As the winds raged on around him for miles, Amell was contemplating if he should bring Magnolia back. He was pretty certain that whatever teleported the city could also bring it back, but could he take that chance. That was the question on his mind. Teleporting between dimension and other entire universes by himself was child's play, but bringing multiple people was always risky. Now he was faced with the task of transferring around a million people including some very powerful mages. Even Amell was uncertain if he could do it without losing a single person.
'I might have to risk it. It's been two days since Magnolia disappeared, maybe I should have consulted the council to find out what they know of this alternate dimension.' Another massive spike in magic appeared suddenly and Amell's eyes lit up in surprise from the sudden emergence of it. 'Seems I was right in waiting. That spike is right around Magnolia.' His next step cracked the ground and he disappeared in a sonic boom with the winds completely destroying the landscape around him wherever he passed. The range of his magic grew to an unfathomable range and the people back at the council could feel the shift of magic in the air.
When he approached Magnolia he slowed down and started walking, the winds followed his lead and calmed down a little, but they were still unnaturally strong.
'That's a strange sight.' Amell's eyes looked into the distance and thousands of miles ahead of him, he saw Magnolia literally appearing from thin air. He also saw the giant vortex in the sky and he guessed that was the gate that took it in the first place.
'At least I didn't have to get involved, which is probably for the best. I have still not mastered dimensional travel while carrying a lot of people.' Amell's lone figure walking in the middle of the dirt road made for a mysterious sight. How tall he was and how the wind seemed to obey the man walking like a king was an incredibly intimidating sight. He continued walking with his goal being the city that just travelled to and from a different universe.
************************************
Inside the Fairy Tail guild building, discord and confusion ran rampant among its members, due to the recent strange phenomenon regarding their own city. On the bar counter inside the guild sat Makarov with every member sitting quietly in the hall and listening to Erza while she was explaining what had happened over in the alternate universe.
"I think I'm starting to understand. Interesting, I had no idea something like that existed, sorry I missed out on all the fun." He said after she was done explaining. "Did you at least find my counterpart?"
Erza took some time to think about it, but Makarov wasn't one of the alternate ones she encountered. "I'm sorry, master, I don't think we encountered your alternate self."
"Maybe not all of us had one, like what if only the strongest got one," Natsu said as he lightly tapped his biceps with a stupidly proud smile like he had bested Makarov and everyone who missed the action.
"Yeah? Then why did you have one, flame-brain?" Grey said, to which Natsu lit his hands ablaze and pointed at his rival.
"Okay! Outside, you and me Grey, let's finally see who is stronger!"
"What's the point, we all know it's me." Grey casually threw his shirt aside and sat down to drink. Natsu however, didn't have any of that, he jumped right at Grey, only for his assault to be cut short when someone grabbed his collar.
"GILDARTS! LET ME DOWN, I WILL KILL HIM!!" Natsu flayed his arms around without any success, Gildarts just smirked and threw him to the side. "Atlas, if you will." He said and his loyal tiger companion placed one of his paws on Natsu's chest and held him down on the ground.
"ATLAS, RELEASE ME!!" Natsu continued to flay, but Atlas wasn't a small tiger, so Natsu couldn't reach his snout to punch it. Atlas was also a Paradise Island beast which meant he had incredible physical strength.
"It's a tiger, it can't understand you, moron!" Gajeel said. Gildarts and Atlas hadn't revealed to anyone that he could talk and was smarter than most humans. Gildarts hadn't revealed much about himself, even Makarov was in the dark. He only knew Gildarts childhood dream was to find Paradise Island.
"Atlas can understand Natsu, it's just that he only listens to me." Gildarts smiled provocatively. "So until you calm down, Natsu, you can enjoy the taste of the floor." Gildarts sat down on a stool by the bar and joined in on the others teasing on Natsu.
"THIS IS NOT FAIR!!!"
"Life isn't fair Natsu," Lucy said, very happy that Natsu finally got some justice for his behaviour. She sat right next to Cana and Wendy who both enjoyed the show of his struggle, but inside Cana's mind two sides fought a great battle, and the bad side was winning. Yet, she continued to smile at the silliness of her guildmates, which is all she felt she could do.
"BRATS!" Makarov yelled loudly and downed the last of alcohol in his mug. "THE TIME HAS COME YET AGAIN! THE S-CLASS TRIALS!" Immediately his words were followed by complete silence which quickly evolved into loud explosive laughter.
"FINALLY!! MY CHANCE IS HERE, ERZA I'M COMING FOR YOU!!" Natsu yelled from under Atlas paw. He stopped struggling and now he laid there and laughed maniacally as he quite literally spat fire with every word and laughter.
"Okay, calm down everyone," Gildarts said calmly. He amplified his voice with magic so he was still heard through all the celebrating going on. Makarov shot him a thankful nod as he continued saying.
"As most of you know, only a few get the chance to do this each year, and the participates have already been chosen. I shall reveal everything tomorrow, so today I want to see you rest up, and, of course, PARTY!!" Makarov raised his cup with alcohol and started downing it all.
"YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!" The guild happily followed after, except Natsu who still couldn't escape Atlas mean grasp. Suddenly the doors to the guild were blown wide open and the members of the guild were assaulted with a strong wind current. Tables were flipped and mugs of alcohol were thrown of the tables.
Grey grabbed a hold of Juvia to save her from falling over. "What the hell is going on here? What's with this wind?!" He flipped Juvia up in his embrace and jumped back to the bar where most had gathered.
"Grey... Is this a confession?!" Juvia laid flustered in his arms ready to pounce on the half-naked man at any moment. "Should Juvia also undress?" She asked with a deep blush on her cheeks.,
"Hell NO!" Grey released her so she dropped to the ground, he somehow also magically found his jacket and put it on.
"This is magic," Erza said confused. "Master, I think we might be under attack." She whispered it to him as to not rile up the guild.
"Maybe, it's definitely unnatural, no doubt there. I just can't sense the source of it, nor when it arrived." He looked around the guild and all his kids were looking fine, just somewhat confused, all but Gildarts.
"Gildarts, do you know what this means?" Makarov had an idea of what, or who could cause something like this. There exist quite a few wind mages and wind artefacts. The question was, who caused this.
"Hm, you could say that." There he stood, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail with a confident smile on his face and his gaze locked onto the doors. "Atlas, release Natsu. I assume you haven't forgotten this magic power." Gildarts speech confused everyone, including Makarov. Atlas released Natsu and walked to Gildarts who stood in front of the guild.
"Is it an enemy, Gildarts?" Lucy asked, shaking, terrified from this wind. The magic power imbued into it was miles above most of them, and they could feel it.
"It depends how you talk to him," Gildarts said just in time for the guild to spot an incredible tall figure right outside the doors. It had a hood on its face and the cloak covered the body, but from the build, it was pretty easy to guess this was a man.
He looked up at the sign hanging above the doors, then a few seconds later he walked in with slow but long steps. As soon as he entered the building, the hair stood up on the necks of the guild members, they felt genuine fear. Natsu stood with his eyes glued on the stranger, the urge to flee was as strong as his urge to fight.
The man stopped in the middle of the hall, he looked around, and his gaze finally rested on Gildarts. "Excuse me, but this is Fairy Tail, right?" His voice was deep and dark, and Lucy could barely swallow saliva because of the intense magic power clashing inside the hall.
"Yes, this is Fairy Tail," Gildarts said calmly.
"Shhhh, don't tell him that!" Lucy hissed quietly.
"Good." He raised his hand and slowly removed the hood covering his face.
"WHAT!? GILDARTS!? Natsu yelled out in outer surprise. Under that hood, was revealed to be a face almost identical to Gildarts. He looked only a few years older than him. And, when a smile suddenly grew on his face, Cana's heart skipped a beat and her cheeks grew red, and she didn't know why. This man looked exactly like Gildarts and she felt a strange feeling appear inside her chest when she saw his face.
"Are you Gildarts?" Amell said, inwardly completely shocked at how his son had grown. The growth was so extreme for him that he had to ask, even though he knew.
"Sure am. Long time no see." Gildarts said and took a slight step forward and with that, his magic rose, causing the wind in the hall to act more aggressive. Tables flipped around them, and the members had to hold onto each other and the bar to not get swept up by the wind.
"You have grown. I missed more than twelve years this time." The father-son duo started walking towards each other. With each step, their magic rose higher, a test between monsters. The guild stood wide-eyed in the back, almost unable to breathe. When they finally stood in front of each other, Amell said calmly. "I am sorry for being away for so long." He grabbed Gildarts shoulders and yanked him into a hug. The embrace was deep and tight as Amell refused to let go for a solid thirty seconds.
"W-W-What's going on!!!" Lucy looked around in a panic. Natsu looked to have short-circuited his brain, the rest of the guild didn't even hear Lucy, that included Makarov, they just stood there completely entranced in this interaction.
Gildarts broke free from the embrace but still held onto Amell's shoulders. "It's good to see you again, Pops!" This was when the entire guild woke up at the same time.
"POPS!!" Grey screamed out first, followed by the rest. "GILDARTS HAS A DAD!!?" Natsu yelled, which earned him a punch from Lucy.
"Of course he has! HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE BORN?!" She screamed in his face, mostly so she could take out her confusion and recent frustration on someone.
"Calm down, Brats!" Makarov said angrily. His tone made was iron-clad and he was watching Amell closely. "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!" Lucy and Natus's bickering stopped immediately. Cana also woke up from her little paralysis, but she was far from okay.
Makarov jumped down from the bar and with uncertain steps, he walked over to the father-son duo. "Gildarts, I can't fathom why you would keep this a secret from me. Yet, at the same time, I can also understand completely why you would." He looked up at Amell with awe and said with his head slightly bowed. "It is an honour to meet you. I had a suspicion that you were behind this, yet I would have never expected this." His gaze jumped back and forth between the two.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to recognize me. What gave me away, was it my son's face? We do look eerily similar." Amell smiled and joked.
"No, but now that I see it, I feel truly foolish for not have connected the dots before. It was your magic, any Saint would know of it. And being this powerful, only a few could manage that." Makarov said.
"I see. Well, it's been a long time since I saw you, Makarov. I believe you were very young last we met." Amell reached out his hand for a shake, and Makarov shook it with pride.
"It's an honour that you remember me! Say, you don't look to have aged at all, would you mind telling me your secret?" Makarov asked.
"Sorry, boy. A magician never reveals his tricks." Amell said with a chuckle.
"Master, what is going on?" Mirajane asked curiously. And she got a supportive nod from the entire guild.
"Guys," Gildarts started. "This is my father." He said while displaying an odd sense of pride that they had never seen him do before. His behaviour was also something they hadn't seen before. None of them even knew who Gildarts family was.
"Hello, Fairy Tail. My name is Portgas D Amell." He bowed just as the entire guild screamed out in horror and genuine confusion.
"What did you just say?" Mirajane, the most composed and collected individual in the guild had a hard time processing what she just heard.
"Like, the strongest mage in history?" Wendy said. She spoke almost robotically, she didn't have many emotions, almost completely stoic. She was too shocked to show any emotion.
"Never heard of him," Natsu said while scratching his head, he was trying to remember where he had heard that name before.
"IDIOT!" Lucy yelled and hit him again, though this time it was well deserved. Amell was someone they taught children about in school. He was part of magical history.
"The founder of Fairy Tail," Erza said. Her cheeks were red as she looked upon Amell with the same awe as Makarov.
"That's false, young woman. My old friend Mavis was the one who gathered us together and made it happen. I was just tagged along for the ride." His words sent another wave of shock through the guild.
"Brats, you're standing in the presence of a founder, BE RESPECTFUL!!" He was mostly looking at Natsu who had that dangerous glint in his eyes. And everyone knew what this meant, and it didn't take long until he was back on his feet and staring intently at Amell.
"OId man, so you're really strong, right?" He asked, while the whole guild face-palmed because they knew what was coming.
"He is the strongest mage in the world, what do you think, dumbass," Grey said.
"Then FIGHT ME!! You will make good practice for my S-class trials." Natsu's hands lit up in bright-red fire and he was ready to jump on Amell.
"You don't even have what it takes to beat Atlas, so don't try to fight me." Amell didn't really try to deter Natsu's approach, he wanted to test this hothead and see what he was worth. Mostly because he wanted to test the effectiveness of Paradise Island's deadlands training ground. But you needed a certain kind of madness and power to survive there.
"Here I come, old man!!" Natsu jumped up and prepared his iron-fist for impact, but Amell just lightly waved his finger up and Natsu was blasted up against the roof. He was almost knocked out from the impact of the wind current that hit him.
"You need to learn to pick more appropriate opponents, Natsu," Gildarts said while chuckling. Atlas started walking away from the guild audience and he approached Amell with somewhat nervous steps. Amell smiled when he saw the tiger's approach.
"Atlas, you've taken good care of my son since his early years, for that you have my gratitude," Amell said.
Atlas bowed low. "It has been a joyous time for me, I am now glad that you allowed me to accompany him, Lord Amell." His sudden speech caused another giant wave of shock throughout the guild. Though, this time Gajeel was the first responder.
"IT SPOOOOKE!!" He looked more afraid than anything, mainly because he had more than on one occasion under-handed insulted Atlas due to thinking he didn't understand human speech. The insults mainly came from the spars Natsu and him had against Atlas and lost repeatedly.
"AWESOME!!" Natsu came falling down from the roof and landed surprisingly gracefully. "SAY SOMETHING MORE!" He rushed at Atlas, only for the tiger to swipe its claw at him throwing him aside.
"Finally, having to be quiet around these morons for so long has been more tiring than anything." Atlas was enjoying a handful of Amell's petting. What creature from Paradise Island wouldn't count this as a blessing, being directly touched by the God that created them.
"I can't believe I am standing face to face with a founder of our guild. This might be the best day of my life." Lucy said as her head was completely in the clouds, not even bothering with anyone else. The only one that didn't stand in awe or complete shock was Cana. She tried to hide behind Elfman who stood like a paralysed statue beside Lisanna. Both of the white-haired siblings didn't know how to process the information.
'I can't even tell him that I am his daughter, how useless am I. I am sorry you have such a useless daughter, now an even more useless granddaughter.' She so badly wanted to call out to Gildarts and Amell, she felt that physical pain from holding herself back. She just didn't know the right words to use. How do you introduce yourself to a family who doesn't even know you exist.
Lucky for this card mage, her grandpa was practically a God with reality-bending powers, so figuring out when someone was staring at him wasn't that difficult. Amell had noticed her gaze already, but he didn't feel it right to put her on the spot in front of everyone. What she had to say was clearly important.
"boy, take control of your guild. If you're doing the S-Class trials tomorrow they need their rest. And I need to talk with my son in private. So, for now, I will have to part ways with you, I will return tomorrow since I am interested to see what candidates you think are S-Class material." This put Makarov on the spot and the pressure he now felt over his choices increased a hundredfold.
'A founder judging me. My poor heart might actually give out tomorrow!' Makarov couldn't voice his plight out loud, so he just met Amell with a smile and a nod. "Of course, it's an honour to have you here."
"Gildarts, come we have lots to discuss after all this time." Amell reached around his shoulder to drag him away, but not before glancing at Cana secretly. 'If I am correct in my assumption, I will kill Gildarts. How clueless can he be,' Amell led Gildarst out the building with a smile.
--------------------------------------------
End
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Vallori
Vallori Editing takes freaking hours. I just don't have the time. The next chapter might take a while, I haven't begun writing it and I need a small break from editing for two days straight.
Have A Wonderful Day!
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง